The best rock ’n’ roll band in history, according to Roger Daltrey
Frontman Roger Daltrey has a lot to answer for within the history of rock and roll. Throughout the incredible rock boom of the 1960s, there were few names as iconic as The Who. Giving voice to an angry young post-war generation, Daltrey’s band were afforded a reputation the likes of which have rarely been seen since the 1960s. More so than most, then, The Who singer is more than qualified to voice his opinion on the state of rock music and pick out some of the greatest bands that made up the genre.
Formed in 1964, at the peak of the modernist subculture which inspired them, The Who quickly gained a reputation for brash, adrenaline-fuelled and, above all else, loud rock and roll music. Led by the incredible songwriting talents of guitarist Pete Townshend and bolstered by the intense vocal performances of Daltrey, The Who had a lasting influence on the face of rock, whereas many of their contemporaries fell into obscurity following the end of the 1960s.
One such group which had the same staying power as The Who was, of course, The Rolling Stones. Kings of British blues rock, The Stones were and continue to be one of the biggest names in all of rock music. Given that they rose through the ranks at roughly the same time, it is something of an inevitability that the two bands crossed paths every now and then. Surprisingly, given Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ penchant for slagging other bands off, there seems to be a mutual respect between the two groups.
In a rock and roll equivalent to the scene from Heat in which Robert De Niro and Al Pacino meet, both groups have regularly spoken about their appreciation of each other. While they soon went in different directions, with The Who adopting complex rock operas and The Stones continuing in their blues rock quest, they remain two utterly iconic names within the genre.
During a 2014 interview, Daltrey expanded upon the relationship between the two bands, revealing, “A friend said this profound thing about The Who recently. He said all the bands from that era are great,” while calling that incredibly broad statement ‘profound’ is quite generous, Daltrey seemed to concur, saying, “I agree with him because for me The Rolling Stones are the best rock ’n’ roll band out there.”
Continuing to discuss his love for The Stones and how Jagger’s group contrasted with his own, the singer shared, “The difference, my friend said, between The Who and all these other great bands out there is that they play at you and The Who play to you.” Aside from sounding like a stoned conversation between music obsessives, that statement seems to be rooted in truth, as The Who managed to foster a connection to their audiences which was not afforded to the likes of The Rolling Stones.
“There is a lot of sense in that,” Daltrey shared, “because it comes down to the words. Pete has a way of capturing the words and feelings that most of us couldn’t express.” Whether or not that is a dig at the lyricism of Jagger or simply an endorsement of Townshend is debatable. Either way, it seems as though, in the eyes of Roger Daltrey, there is no rock and roll band that eclipses The Rolling Stones.